UPCOMING EVENTS

MSI wants to make virtual reality mobile by taking its new PC and strapping it to your back. And now you can preorder that rig.

The VR One is now on Newegg. The lower-end model, which features a GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and an Intel i7 processor, costs $2,000 and ships November 30. The higher-end model features a GTX 1070 and 512GB SSD costs $2,300, though the site doesn’t list a shipping date for it. UploadVR has reached out to MSI to confirm that all the the info listed on the site is accurate.

Each device has a battery life of around an hour and a half, and features swappable batteries. They weigh in at 7.9 pounds.

As the name suggests, the VR One is designed specifically for VR headsets. For now, it’s best suited to the HTC Vive, as it enables you to walk around environments with room-scale tracking without the headset’s wire tugging behind your head as you walk further away from a standard rig. The kit may also appeal to Oculus Rift owners looking to set up their own room-scale environments when the Oculus Touch controllers and extra sensors launch early next month.

The real question is if these backpacks are a genuine solution for wireless VR that enthusiasts will accept in the short term. That question was cast further into doubt yesterday as HTC and TYPCAST announced an upgrade kit for the HTC Vive that made it wireless. MSI isn’t the only one in this niche space, though, with Alienware and XMG also presenting VR backpacks throughout 2016.